Developing lists to cold call

Wholesaling
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Developing lists to cold call

Tevin Russell
San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes

Hello, 

I've been looking into wholesaling for a few months now and I've finally started to transition from the analysis paralysis phase to actually taking action (or trying to). 

I've decided to look up properties in a specific area that are tax delinquent to develop a list I could cold call.

Direct mails seems out of the question for now until I get a few deals out of the way to fund a proper campaign.

My process is as follows: A) List all properties that owe a certain amount in taxes where I feel there may be motivation to sell (ex. 8k owed & up). B) Look up their contact info through reverse address lookup through WhitePages C) Put the owner's number in the do not call registry lookup to see who i'm able to call or not.

My problem is that the process of checking if a number is on the DNC list is tedious. I just ran out of web lookups and was told I need to call their number and enter each number over the phone to look them up.

Is this process that I'm using standard? Am I making it harder than it needs to be? 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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Doug P.
Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y

@Fabian Gonzalez May as well. I searched around until I found a reverse address site (411.ca in my case) that allows me to enter a street and get the numbers for all of the houses on that street. Most of them require you to put in the house number too, which just takes too long.

If that doesn't work there are lots of companies that sell phone lists which you can import into a dialer like mojo or just have in an Excel sheet. If you can get the numbers into a "tel:" link format Skype can also recognize it for click-to-call. Using skype like that is almost as fast as a single line mojo and much much cheaper. You can make around 80 dials an hour with a single line dialer, depending on pick up rates, you'll be looking at speaking to 10-20 people per hour. Statistically you can expect to buy 1 house for every 100-200 homeowners you speak to.

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  • Carter CrowleyPro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Oshkosh, WI · Member since 2016 · 107 posts · 49 votes
    8y
    Would highly recommend REI skip if you have a list of greater than 250 people. It is completely up to you in regards to the DNC list if you choose to abide by it or not. I personally have gotten deals from sellers on the DNC list
    1Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Carter Crowley I appreciate that info. I’ve heard many conflicting things about the DNC list. Some say asking if the owner is willing to sell is soliciting and others say it isn’t so I was airing on the safe side but either way doing a bulk slip trace would save me some time. 

    0Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell I'm sure this is in a thread somewhere...but where do you find the properties that are past due in taxes? I'm guessing its different for every area as I'm in CT and you're in TX.

    0Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez I go to the county tax assessor's website. There's a search option by either owner's name or address and I just plug in the street name and all of the houses on that street pop up. All properties that have past due amounts worth noting I put them in my list.

    1Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez Why don't you just call everyone in your target neighborhoods? There are lots of people who aren't behind on their property taxes who would like to sell their houses quickly.

    1Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell Thank you. I will have to look into utilizing that for my area!

    0Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. I do plan on doing that as well. Leave no stone unturned, right? 

    0Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez May as well. I searched around until I found a reverse address site (411.ca in my case) that allows me to enter a street and get the numbers for all of the houses on that street. Most of them require you to put in the house number too, which just takes too long.

    If that doesn't work there are lots of companies that sell phone lists which you can import into a dialer like mojo or just have in an Excel sheet. If you can get the numbers into a "tel:" link format Skype can also recognize it for click-to-call. Using skype like that is almost as fast as a single line mojo and much much cheaper. You can make around 80 dials an hour with a single line dialer, depending on pick up rates, you'll be looking at speaking to 10-20 people per hour. Statistically you can expect to buy 1 house for every 100-200 homeowners you speak to.

    3Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P.

    When doing this are you scrubbing your list against the DNC list or do you just call every number that shows up?

    Are you not worried about potential fines or do you just chalk that up to a 'business expense'?

    0Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell I'm in Canada so the DNC legislation is probably worded differently for you, although from everything I've heard they seem to be pretty much identical as far as intent. The law here is clear that the DNC applies only to those who are selling or promoting a product or service, or soliciting money (donations). None of which I, as a private investor looking for properties to buy, am doing.

    0Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. I've heard a few investors take the same stance on DNC list as you stated which makes perfect sense, but I always feel conflicted when I hear of those warning everyone to not call these numbers because of potential fines. I'll research it further to put myself more at ease with it but either way I appreciate that information. You make me feel better about something I was originally looking at as another obstacle in the way of getting started with REI.

    0Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell If you're really worried you can always limit yourself to calling FSBOs and FRBOs. They're not the greatest leads for wholesaling, but if you learn some of the other investment techniques (lease options, subject to etc.) you can do very well.

    0Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. Ok I'll look into that. I really appreciate it Doug. 
     Thanks.

    0Reply
  • Chris Turner
    Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2013 · 90 posts · 89 votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell

    You are verifying equity in the property before you waste your time trying to call them right?

    0Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. hit google to see what options were available here in the US. Seems like there are options, both paid and free, that I would be able to obtain that information. I also, see what you are saying about having to put the house number in which makes the task seem daunting. Ill keep digging into that to find the best platform to utilize. 

    I am unfamiliar with dialers like mojo or using skype in that manner. Recommend any other methods of developing cold call lists or other forms of lead generation? Staying in the lines of the wholesale space...

    0Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Chris Turner How would one go about verifying equity in the property before attempting to call? @Tevin Russell Not trying to thread jack by any means lol. Just jumping in on a great thread you started for information we are both looking for lol.

    0Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez Well hands down the simplest way to generate a list is to call every number in a prefix. According to this site https://www.area-codes.com/city/city.asp?state=CT&... Meriden has 26 exchange prefixes in the 203 and 475 area codes. So for example, you could take (203)213- and dial every number: 0000, 0001, 0002 etc. until you get to 9999.

    Not targeted at all, but with enough dials you should still land deals. After your first deal hire a VA to do the calling for you and you just follow up on the leads.

    As mentioned above, you can always call FSBOS, FRBOs and expired listings. These are not great lead sources for traditional wholesale because many of them don't have equity. I personally wholesale lease options, so I can work with low/no equity leads, and recommend everyone learn how to do that too.

    As for other marketing. I've done direct mail, bandit signs, networking with other investors and realtors, and making shotgun offers on the MLS. None work as well as cold calling. But they do all work to some degree.

    3Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez Its all good, I was going to ask @Chris Turner the same thing. lol

    @Doug P. I never thought of/knew it was a thing to actually wholesale a lease option. It was wired into my brain that you wholesale to only investors who have enough money to buy in total. Perfect example of creative real estate investing. 

    2Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell Yeah, there's at least 3 ways to 'wholesale':

    1. Traditional wholesale: Sold to a flipper who is going to rehab the property and is looking to resell for an immediate profit, this requires you (the wholesaler) to get a very low price. There has to be room for closing costs, carrying costs, repairs, profit for the flipper, and your wholesale fee. That's where the "70% rule" comes in. This type of deal works best for highly distressed properties that need extensive repairs, major remodeling, or a total gut. These properties are typically found in C and D neighborhoods and older neighborhoods that are experiencing regentrification.

    2. Wholetail (wholesale + retail): Sold to landlords, or home buyers who want to build sweat equity. Since neither are looking to quickly flip the property, you don't need to get as low of a price. In a hot sellers market you can offer as much as 90% of the ARV, otherwise stay in the 75-85% range. This works well with properties that have deferred maintenance. These properties are typically found in B and C neighborhoods.

    3. Wholesale Lease Option: Sold to tenant/buyers. This is a little different because you are focused on putting together a deal with wholesale terms instead of a wholesale price. This works best with sellers who can't afford their mortgage payments, or who don't need their equity out right away and are more interested in getting top dollar. You can pay up to 100% of FMV, sometimes even going above current market value if the terms are good enough. These deals work best in AAA to A neighborhoods but can also work in B neighborhoods.

    While there's nothing wrong with flipping the most distressed properties in your area. I think it's a mistake to make that the sole focus of your wholesaling efforts. It requires a high degree of specialized knowledge to accurately estimate value and repairs, and if you get any of it wrong you will instantly get a bad name with the flippers you're trying to wholesale to. The other 2 groups of buyers are far more forgiving plus there are a lot more nice or slightly 'tired' properties, than there are falling apart dumps.

    3Reply
  • Diondrea Richardson
    North Little Rock, AR · Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y
    I’m new to wholesaling as well, I have been sending out emails. When you make phone calls what is your greeting? Are you telling them straight up that you are acting as a wholesaler?
    0Reply
  • Tevin Russell
    OP
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 16 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. Adding tools to my toolbox. I'm going to have to research all of those a little deeper to get a better grasp of it all but thanks for opening my eyes to that. And I agree about being good at estimating repair costs. That's one of the things as a new investor that seems a bit daunting without any real experience yet. There's ways out there to best guestimate repair costs to get close as possible and there's also an option to have a contractor give me their professional estimate.

    0Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Diondrea Richardson For wholesale deals: "Hi this is Diondrea, I'm looking to buy a house in your neighborhood that needs to be fixed up. Can you point me to any run down or abandoned properties you would love to see renovated and occupied? Awesome! Do you know how I can get in touch with the owner?"

    For wholetail deals: "Hi this is Diondrea, I'm looking to buy an investment property in your neighborhood. Who do you know that's thinking of selling?"

    For wholesale lease option deals: "Hi this is Diondrea, I'm looking to buy a nice family home in your neighborhood. Who do you know that's looking to sell?"

    or:

    "Hi this is Diondrea, I'm looking to lease an executive home in your neighborhood. Do you know of any homeowners who would consider a long-term lease?"

    3Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Tevin Russell Best of luck my friend!

    1Reply
  • Fabian Gonzalez
    Meriden, CT · Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    @Doug P. Thank you again for giving time to helping us new comers learn more. Truly seeing how valuable BP is in such a short time. My biggest takeaways from this thread that I need to dive further into as @Tevin Russell said are:

    - The 3 ways to wholesale. Learn them. Understand them. Execute them.

    - Understand the different class of neighborhoods as you mentioned in that previous post. 

    - Fill the lead generation pipeline. Establish methods to reach as many people as possible for the various types of leads available

    1Reply
  • Doug P.
    Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    @Fabian Gonzalez You're welcome!

    Here's an article about neighborhood classes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/12/09/class-a-b-c-d-real-estate/

    1Reply
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